FISHKILL – An inmate came to the aid of a female officer who was being attacked inside a housing unit office at the medium security Fishkill Correctional Facility.
The incident occurred on Sunday, January 31 at about 5 a.m. It was reported by the New York State Corrections Officers PBA.
The female officer was inside one of the housing unit offices when she heard an inmate screaming. The officer left the office and saw an inmate running toward her screaming, “knife.”
The officer ordered the inmate to stop but he refused and kept on running toward her. The inmate grabbed the officer by her uniform shirt and pushed her backwards into the office and barricaded the door.
As the inmate continued the attack, the officer was able to call for assistance.
Another inmate, who was in the bathroom at the time and heard the attack, pushed his way into the office and pulled the inmate off the officer and out of the room.
Additional officers responded to the scene, handcuffed the inmate and removed him from the area.
The inmate, 28, is serving a seven-year sentence for a Queens County burglary and weapons possession conviction. He now faces disciplinary charges and was placed in a special housing unit.
The officer sustained scratches and redness to her chest. She was treated by facility medical staff and remained on duty.
“Far too often we are reporting attacks on staff at the hands of inmates,” said Chris Moreau, NYSCOPBA Mid-Hudson regional vice president. “In this latest attack, because of staff shortages and our membership already stretched too thin at prisons, another inmate was needed to help stop the attack on an officer before additional staff arrived.”
Moreau said there was “an indication the inmate who attacked the officer was intoxicated on an unknown substance and the attack could have continued if the inmate had not intervened.”
He said they are thankful that the other inmate stepped in to help the officer, but if the Department of Corrections and Community Service “would keep staffing at adequate levels instead of focusing on closing more prisons, the attack might have been averted in the first place.”
